BETHESDA, MD — Alley Cat Allies, the national advocate for stray and feral cats, announced ithas granted $10,000 to SpayMart of Greater New Orleans for the 10th anniversary of the NeuterScooter Campaign. The program offers spay and neuter services for feral cats for a $10 co-pay percat during the month of October. Ten clinics in the Greater New Orleans area are participating.(For more information, see http://www.spaynow.net/neuter_scooter.htm.)

“We are pleased to offer this grant to SpayMart, an important partner in our Every Kitty – EveryCity program to help cats in Greater New Orleans,” said Becky Robinson, president of Alley CatAllies.

The Neuter Scooter campaign is held each year in October to mark National Feral Cat Day,October 16, the annual kickoff for Alley Cat Allies’ national educational campaign about stray andferal cats. National Feral Cat Day is observed nationally by local groups and individuals, who holdfundraisers, spay/neuter clinics and adoption events throughout the month of October.

“Feral cats are members of the domestic cat species like pet cat cats, but they are not ‘snugglers.’They will never be lapcats, and they can’t be adopted. Their home is the outdoors, where they livehealthy and content lives,” said Robinson. “Spay or neuter, as part of a Trap-Neuter-Returnprogram, is the best course of action for feral cats. It improves their lives by ending the cycle ofbreeding, it stabilizes the population, and it makes the cats better neighbors by ending behaviorsassociated with mating, like yowling and roaming.”

Trap-Neuter-Return, practiced in many communities and by caring individuals across the country,involves humanely trapping feral cats, taking them to clinics to be neutered and vaccinated forrabies, and returning the cats to their colonies.

Robinson noted that traditional approaches for feral cats – such as catch and kill or attempts torelocate – are inhumane and costly, and do not work because of a phenomenon known as thevacuum effect, in which intact cats who evade capture continue the breeding cycle.